Can.



v J. W. DUGAN.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

NETE@ STATES PATENT @FFIQEQ JOHN W. DUGAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

CAN.

To @ZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN W DUGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cans, of which the following is a speciiication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in cans and, more particularly, to a certain new and useful can especially designed and adapted for use in connection with liquid preparations for. polishing` metals, metal-ware, and the like, such as, for instance, the metal polishing preparation at present on the market and commonly known as, and callec, Polish-z ine. It is perhaps well known that such-` polishing preparations, and specifically the one mentioned, are generally merely physical mixtures comprising as their constituents a suitable solid (as distinguished fromj liquid) matter in the form of powder and1 a suitable liquid, the mixture being usually such that the solid or powdered matter more or less quickly settles and, to a certain ex tent, cakes or hardens when the containing receptacle is in a state of rest. To supplyE the trade with such preparations, manufac turers thereof generally employ at the pres-1 ent time, so far as I am aware, a can provided with but one comparatively small or` contracted outlet opening. Due to the nai ture or characteristics of these preparations or mixtures, not only must the containing can or receptacle be frequently shaken tol mix the constituents of the contained prepaE ration or mixture, but use or employment@ of such cans also necessitates, the preparation being applied by means of a soft rag on the like to the article being polished, the can being inverted or turned upside down; and then reversed to normal position oir every dampening or wetting of the apply-` ing rag. This is not only a source of con-i siderable annoyance and loss of time, but; also has frequently resulted in the prepara-l tion running over the side of the can upon, and to the consequent soiling of, the floor or other surface. v j

The object of my present invention is to provide a can to be used especially for containing such preparations or polishing mixtures which may be cheaply andeconomically manufactured and which will obviatel` Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jun@ 22 19141:,

Application led February 6, 1913.

Serial No. 746,585.

or do away with the objectionable features mentioned; and to the end stated, my invention resides in providing a can particularly adapted for the purposes mentioned with means in the form preferably of a trough communicating with the interior of `the can, whereby on the can being turned upside down, a quantity of the polishing mixture or preparation sufficient for an extended use of the preparation or mixture will flow into the trough and, on the can being reversed to normal position, remain in the trough and be hence ready at hand and easily accessible, repeated turning of the can upside down and back to normal position being thus clone away with; and in certain novel features of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, all as will hereinafter be described and afterward pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a sectional view of my new can taken approximately on line 1-l, Fig.. 2;v Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through my new can, showing the same in normal position and illed with or containing a polishing preparation or mixture; F 3 is a detail sectional View on line 8 3, Fig. 2;

Fig. it is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, showing my new can in partly inverted position as when the applying rag-receiving trough, as we will call it, is being filled; and Fig. is also a View, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, of my new can returned or reversed into normal upright position with the applying rag-receiving trough filled with a quantity of the polishing preparation or mixture.

In the said drawings, l indicates the body portion of my new can, which is preferably a hollow sheet metal vessel closed at its base. This body portion l -may be of any suitable size as desired and may be also of any desirable shape or form; preferably body portion l hasthe shape or form ofa truncated cone, as shown, and is preferably provided, for the convenient handling or carrying of the same, with a handle or bail 2. Body portion 1 is open at its top and is there provided with an annular inwardlyprojecting sheet metal top or cover portion 3 provided centrally with an upstanding open threaded neck portion 4, cover portion 3, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, lying within the area of body 1 at the tepthereof and being soldered or otherwise fixed adjacent its outer rim to the upper edge of body portion 1. Adapted to be threaded upon and removably close neck portion l is a preferably circular sheet metal cap or cover 5. A gasket. or washer 6 may be interposed between cap 5 and top portion 3, for obvious purposes, when cap 5 is threaded in closing position upon neck portion 4.

Suitably fixed at its base to the under side of top or fixed cover portion 8 and depending therefrom within body portion 1, is a preferably sheet metal funnel or coneshaped trough 7 having its apex presented downwardly, this trough 7 being cut away adjacent and beneath top or fixed cover por tion 3 to there provide an annular series of elongated or enlarged slots or openings 8 communicating with the interior of body portion 1 and adapted to provide exit openings into trough 7 for the polishing` preparation or mixture contained within body portion 1.

At its apex, trough 7 is provided with a fixed depending tubular extension 9 also communicating with the interior of body portion 1 and adapted to provide an auxiliary passage into trough 7 for particularly the liquid portion of the polishing preparation or mixture contained within body portion 1. To prevent that portion of the polishing preparation or mixture which passes or flows into trough 7 on body portion l being turned upside down flowing back into body portion 1 through tubular extension 9 on body portion 1 being reversed or returned to normal position, I provide in tubular extension 9 a movable valve or stopper rod l0 having at its upper end a head 11 adapted to seat in the upper end of, and close, extension 9 when body portion 1 is in normal upright position or in the position thereof as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. To arrest the movement of valve or stopper rod 10 in tubular extension 9 on body portion 1 being turned upside down and also to prevent the entire withdrawal or removal of valve rod 10 from extension 9, valve rod 10 is provided at its lower end with a plurality of upwardly-presented spring-prongs or the like 12 adapted, on the outward movement of rod 10, to' engage with the lower end of tubular extension 9 and thereby limit the movement of valve rod l0 in tubular extension 9. It might be here stated that, on valve or stopper rod 10 being placed in operative position in tubular extension 9, spring-prongs 12 are forced to lie closely or flat against valve rod 10 as rod 10 is forced downwardly through tubular extension 9 into operative position, springwprongs l2 resiliently spreading after the lower end of valve rod l() has passed below the lower end of tubular extension 9.

Body portion l of my new can, having soldered or otherwise fixed thereupon top or cover portion 3 with trough 7 and its depending tubular extension 9 affixed thereto, is then filled to the proper extent through tubular extension 9 with the polishing preparation or mixture, after which valve or stopper rod 10 is forced into operative position in tubular extension 9. W' hen it is desired to use a portion of the contents of body portion 1, body portion 1, prefen ably with cap or cover 5 screwed into full closing position upon neck il, is inverted, or semi-inverted, as shown in Fig. et, whereupon a certain part of the preparation or mixture contained therein will pass through slots 8 into trough 7; also, valve head 11 having become unseated on this movement of body-portion 1 and tubular extension 9 being then open, some of the liquid of the mixture will also pass through tubular ex tension 9 into trough 7. On body portion 1 being reversed into normal upright position, valve rod 10 will move downwardly in tubular extension 9 and its head 11 again Close the same, a quantity of the polishing preparation or mixture remaining in trough 7 ready at hand and easily accessible, on cap or cover 5 being removed, for an extended application of the preparation. Should the solid or powdered matter of the mixture or preparation settle or clog around slots or openings 8 or otherwise retard the egress of the liquid portion of the mixture, it will be seen that tubular extension 9 provides an auxiliary passage therefor from within body portion 1 into trough 7, and have found that, by the use of my new can, practically all waste or loss of material is done away with, the can being usable until approximately the entire contents thereof have been removed therefrom. It will also be seen that my new can, slots S being beneath and closely adjacent to top or cover portion 3 and stopper-rod 10 being non-removable from extension 9, is substantially non-rellable and obviates the ditliculties and objectionable features now experienced with cans at present generally employed for the purposes stated.

As shown particularly in Fig. 2, tubular extension 9 preferably projects at its upper end somewhat above the inner surface of the apex of trough 7, so that, should any part of the solid matter of the preparation or mixture, on settling or calring, tend to fasten head 11 to its seat and thereby prevent the free movement of rod 10 in extension 9, head 11 may be readily gripped by a suitable instrument and loosened in its seat. It will be further observed that cap or cover 5, being substantially flat throughout its area, provides a iirm, stable base for body portion 1 when in inverted or upside down position.

I am aware that minor changes in the construction,- arrangement, and combination of the several parts of my new can may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An invertible can of the kind described comprising a hollow body-portion closed at its base and open and substantially circular at its top, a centrally open annular cover portion lying within the area of said bodyportion at the top thereof and fixed at its outer rim to the upper edge of said bodyportion, and a fixed substantially coneshaped trough depending within said bodyportion with its apex presented downwardly, the base of said trough lying directly beneath said annular cover portion and being provided closely adjacent thereto with an annular series of openings providing communicating passages between the interior of said body-portion and said trough; substantially as described.

2. An invertible can of the kind described comprising a hollow body-portion closed at its base and open at its top, a fixed trough depending within said body-portion at the open top thereof, the base of said trough being provided closely adjacent the open top of said body-portion with a plurality of openings communicating with the interior of said body-portion, and a depending tubular extension on said trough adapted to provide an auxiliary communicating passage between said trough and the interior of said body-portion; substantially as described.

3. An invertible can of the'kind described comprising a hollow body-portion closed at its base and open and substantially circular at its top, a fixed substantially cone-shaped trough depending within said body-portion with its apex presented downwardly, said trough at its base being provided with a plurality of openings communicating with the interior of said body-portion, a iixed tubular extension depending within said body-portion at the apex of said trough, said extension communicating at one end with said tro-ugh and at its other end with the interior of said body-portion and being adapted to provide an auxiliary communicating passage therebetween, and a headed valve-rod longitudinally movable in said extension and adapted to normally close said extension and to open the same on said body-portion being turned upside down or inverted, the upper end of said extension providing a seat for the head of said rod when in normal position; substantially as described.

4. An invertible can of the kind described comprising a hollow body-portion closed at its base and open and substantially circular at its top, a centrally open annular cover portion lying within the area of said bodyportion at the top thereof and fixed at its outer rim to the upper edge of said bodyportion, a fixed substantially cone-shaped trough depending within said body-portion with its apex presented downwardly, the base of said trough lying directly beneath said cover portion and being provided closely adjacent thereto with an annular series of openings providing communicating passages between the interior of said body-portion and said trough, a fixed tubular extension depending within said bodyportion at the apex of said trough, said extension communicating at one end with said trough and at its other end with the interior of said body-portion and providing an auxiliary communicating passage between the interior of said body-portion and said trough, and a headed valve rod longitudinally movable in said tubular extension and adapted to normally close said extension and to open the same on said body-portion being turned upside down or inverted, the upper end of said extension providing a seat for the head of said rod when in normal position; substantially as described.

5. An invertible can of the kind described comprising a hollow body-portion closed at its base and open and substantially circular at its top, an annular top-portion fixed at its outer rim to the upper rim of said bodyportion, said top-portion being centrally provided with an upstanding open threaded neck, a fixed trough depending within said body-portion with its upper face below and presented toward said neck, the base of said trough lying directly beneath said top portion and being provided closely adjacent thereto with a plurality of openings providing communicating passages between the interior of said body-portion and said trough, and a cap adapted to removably fit on said neck and provide a closure therefor and also a bottom for said trough on said bodyportion being turned upside down or inverted; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of' two subscribing witnesses.

A JGHN W. DUGAN. l/Vitnesses:

ZELMA Pincus, RUTH PETERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

